Coded shipping and dispensing carton assembly



Feb. 28, 1967 R- L. NELSON CODED SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTON ASSEMBLYFiled July 30, 1965 INVENTOR R/CHARD L. NELSON (1.0?

ATTOENEY United States Patent Ofiiice Patented Feb. 28, 1967 3,306,437CODED SHIPPING AND DHSPENSENG CARTON ASSEMBLY Richard L. Nelson, 21Richards Place, Battle Creek, Mich. 49015 Filed July 30, 1965, Ser. No.477,087 11 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) The present invention is acontinuation-in-part of my co-pending patent application Serial No.365,381, filed .May 6, 1964, now abandoned, and deals broadly witharticle dispensing and the methods involved, and in its more specifiedphases with special forms of cartons for goods to be dispensed and thedispensing system with coding and methods of carrying out same.

The dispensing of items such as packages of cigarettes from the cartonby having an end portion of the cover flap perforated for completeremoval has been done as is shown, for instance, in US. Patent No.2,875,938, as well as by U.S. Patent No. 2,771,988. A container having acut-away side and a reversible telescoping cover member with one edgeportion missing, so that by reversing the cover a dispensing openingwill be provided, is also shown in US. Patent No. 1,904,760, while thedispensing of loose swabs from stacked drawer-like trays carrying amultiplicity of same in a carton which is not satisfactory for use as acomplete shipping container, due to lack of sanitary packaging of theindividual goods as well as having a completely cut loose side flapportion, is shown in US. Patent No. 2,847,119. While such constructionsare in the dispensing container field, they fail to meet the specialneeds for a shipping container having its top and bottom flaps closedand sealed when packed with goods to be dispensed, and with its sidepanels unopened although in one form of the shipping container means areprovided for opening one side at the bottom of same for goodsdispensing. Further, they fail to meet the need of a dispensing systemwherein the shipping container has an inner container or containers inwhich the goods to be dispensed are suitably packed for dispensing andwherein all of the containers as well as the goods are coded to show thetype of goods in the container or containers as well as in the packagesto be dispensed and whether the right goods are packed in same when eachsaid container is opened for dispensing. It was a recognition of theseparticular problems and the complete lack of an adequate commercialsolution to same which led to the conception and development of thepresent invention.

Accordingly, among the objects of the-present invention is the provisionof an improved shipping container adapted to have a partially severedstrip portion removed from the side of same a predetermined distanceabove its bottom to form a lower side panel portion which is hingedlyjoined to the carton bottom and weakened at its ends for ready severingand downward hinging to facilitate dispensing small packages of goodsthrough said opening which is reclosable.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dispensing combinationhaving a series of small containers for articles to be dispensed, withsaid small containers having a closed bottom, a top which may be open ifdesired, and a dispensing opening above said closed bottom, with severalof said small containers preferably fitting side by side in a shippingcontainer having closa-ble and anchorable top and bottom flaps, saidshipping container in a preferred form of the invention having a zipoutportion in at least one side of same spaced above the carton bottom sothat when said zip-out portion is removed and the ends of the cartonwall portion below same are torn down, a reclosable flap will beprovided for uncovering the dispensing opening of each of the smallinner containers for removal of goods packed in same.

Another object is to provide a shipping container with scalable top andbottom flaps and preferably with a sealed but openable full width sideportion adjacent one end of same, said shipping container having amultiplicity of closed bottom, inner containers therein with each havinga dispensing side portion above the closed bottom of same and whichdispensing portion is shallower than the openable side portion of saidshipping container and directly adjacent same in final assembly topermit dispensing direct from the shipping container if desired, thegoods to be packed in said inner containers being code marked to matchthe marking on said shipping container, as well as on said innercontainers which are preferably code marked directly above the sideopening of same so that such marking can be seen when the openable sideportion of said shipping container has been opened for the directdispensing therefrom.

Another object is to provide an improved method facilitating theaccurate dispensing of small articles from closed bottom containershaving a suitable dispensing opening in one of its side walls adjacentbut above the bottom thereof.

Another object is to provide a coding system for 'both the articles tobe dispensed and the container from which they are to be dispensed sothat one can at once determine the type and use of the articles to bedispensed and whether they have been placed in the proper container.

A further object is to provide a color coded shipping and dispensingsystem for code marked articles to show at a glance what articles arepacked and their particular type and use.

A further object is to provide a special color coded dispenser systemparticularly adapted for dispensing various types of tray kits forhospital use.

Still further objects and advantages of this invention will appear asthe description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention,then, consists of the methods and products hereinafter fully describedand particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and thefollowing description setting forth in detail certain illustrativeembodiments of the products and modes of carrying out the invention,such disclosed embodiments and modes illustrating, however, but severalof the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawing:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of one type of coded shippingcontainer, made in accordance with one form of the present invention,closed and sealed ready for shipment.

FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view, on a reduced scale, of the shippingcontainer of FIGUREI with its top open to show the individual innercontainers therein which are filled with goods to be dispensed, and withthe side dispensing portion of the shipping container open to permitsuch dispensing.

FIGURE 3 shows a perspective view of one form of the inner containersfilled with goods to be dispensed, and ready for placing in the shippingcontainer of the present invention, for direct dispensing of the goodsif desired.

FIGURE 4 shows a perspective view of a coded package of goods adapted tobe dispensed endwise from the side opening of the inner containerillustrated in FIG- URE 3 either directly therefrom or directly throughthe shipping container after same has been opened ready for itemdispensing adjacent its bottom as shown in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the shippingcontainer as taken along line VV of FIGURE 1, looking in the directionof the arrows.

Referring more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing, theshipping carton is conventionally provided at its top and bottom withclosable and scalable flaps 11, 12, 13 and 14. This shipping carton 10is of a size to receive a multiplicity of inner cartons 15, FIG- URES 2and 3, for instance five as shown in FIGURE 2. These inner cartons 15preferably have a closed bottom 16, and open top 17, and a shallow,substantially full width, opening 18 in narrow panel 19 adjacent butabove said closed bottom 16, to facilitate dispensing packaged items 20,FIGURE 4.

In order to dispense packaged items 20 directly from the shipping carton10, the latter is preferably partially severed or pre-perforated, FIGURE1, to form a pair of end-to-end, in-line, tear-out strip members 21, theadjacent ends of which are preferably cut loose to form free tabs 22 foreasy gripping and pulling to tear along the perforations 25. Sinceshipping carton 10 is preferably made of corrugated board, as shown, aconvenient way to form the tear-out strip members 21 is to completelysever the tabs 22 and, as shown in FIGURE 5, cut the corrugated boardfrom the back just up to the front face panel or sheet of same whichwill readily sever when the tabs are pulled. These tear-out stripmembers 21 are preferably sufficiently above and parallel to the bottomof the shipping carton 16 to come a short distance above the top ofopening 18 in the inner cartons 15 as shown in FIGURE 2 for a purpose tobe hereinafter set forth.

Between tear strip member 21 and the bottom of shipping carton 16 is areclosable flap member 23, the ends of which are weakened as byperforations 24 so that when goods are to be dispensed and the tear-outstrip members 21 have been removed, this perforated portion at the endsof flap 23 can be broken and the flap pulled down as shown in FIGURE 2.At the end of the item dispensing, flap member 23 may be turned up toclosed position and temporarily held in that position, if desired, bymeans of tape or the like (not shown).

A conventional use for the present invention is in connection with thedispensing of tray kits in hospitals. Here the feeding of patients musttake into account their dietary requirements. For example the tray kitfor general dis pensing to patients would be in the form of a sealedpackaged item 20 utilizing, for instance, a sterile sealed Cellophane orPliofilm envelope containing a napkin, sugar, and individual salt andpepper dispensers. In the case of a patient needing a salt-free diet,the packaged item 26 would be varied to supply in the place of salt asalt substitute, and for a diabetic patient, the sugar would be replacedwith a sugar substitute. Each of these packaged items 26 would becorrespondingly marked or coded, and preferably by color coding in anysuitable manner to indicate the specific use such as (1) general, (2)salt free, (3) diabetic, et cetera. A convenient way to carry out thiscolor coding is to place a spot of color 26 on the packaged item 20,FIGURE 4, to show the specific type of the packaged item, and with apredetermined color chosen and always used for each specific type toidentify it. The shipping carton 10 would also carry the same spot ofcolor 26 to show what type item was packed in same. Also the innercarton 15 would likewise be correspondingly color code marked directlyabove its dispensing opening 18 so that same would show when flap 23 ofcarton 10 was lowered, FIGURE 2, thus confirming that the right innercartons 15 had been packed in the corresponding color coded shippingcarton 10. While a spot of color is a simple way of color coding, theinvention is not limited to same since any form of coding may be used,even including using overall color for both the cartons and theindividual packages, and it is intended that the showing in the drawing.be considered as diagrammatically showing equivalent variations.

This color coding also lends itself admirably to the dispensing ofspecial packaged items 20 of relatively slow demand. For example, wholeshipping cartons 10 would be filled with general demand items andmounted on a shelf at the back of the tray assembling counter, whilewith slow moving, low demand kits, several different inner cartons 15,each having its own color coded items could be packed in a mixed groupshipping carton 10 with the color coding showing, as illustrated inFIGURE 2, to enable the kitchen help to readily pick the right tray kitby color code for a patients tray from this mixed group shipping carton0n the same shelf at the tray assembling counter.

One of the assemblies of the present invention which has been thoroughlytested and found to be highly satisfactory for shipping to a hospitaland the dispensing of tray kits 20 for patients trays, will now bedescribed. The shipping carton 10 was 19% inches high, 14 /2 inches wideacross the front, and 10 inches deep. This carton had the tear-out stripmembers 21 on the front panel, with such tear-out strip portion beingone-half inch wide and its top edge 3 inches above the bottom of thefront panel. The side edges of the front panel from the top of thetear-out strip to the bottom of the front panel were perforated tofacilitate breaking loose the ends of reclosable front flap 23 whenpackaged tray kits 2% were to be dispensed. There were five innercartons 15 packed inside shipping carton 10 as shown in FIGURE 2, withthe shallow dispensing opening 18 of these inner cartons beingsubstantially full width of same and approximately 2 inches high. Withthe dispensing opening 18 of these inner cartons 15 directly behind flap23 of shipping carton 10, the assembly, when opened for dispensing oftray kits, has the appearance at the dispensing opening as shown inFIGURE 2, and yet when reclosable flap 23 is folded against the side ofthe shipping container 11} and anchored with a piece of tape or thelike, it will completely cover the dispensing opening 18 in the innereartons 15 and thus protect the dispensable tray kits 29.

Again referring to FIGURE 2 it will be noted that the opening 18 in theinner carton 15 is shallower than the opening in the shipping carton 10when the tear-out strip members have been removed and reclosable flap 23turned down. This facilitates color coding the complete assembly sinceeach of the individual tray kits 20 have a color spot 26, or equivalentcode marking, which is a key to the trays contents and use, the shippingcarton 1t? likewise has a like color spot or spots 26 or the equivalenton its front panel, and the inner carton likewise is provided with asimilar color spot 26 or the equivalent directly over its shallowopening 18 where it can be seen when the shipping carton It) has beenopened for dispensing the tray kits 20 as shown in FIGURE 2. This colorcoding system thus not only is a guide to the kind of tray kit 20involved, but permits easy checking to determine whether the assemblyhas been properly packed. Also when the shipping carton is packed withseveral different kinds of tray kits 29, each type in its own innercarton 15, this shows from the exposed color spots 26 on each innercarton above its dispensing opening 18 and is a guide to picking therequired tray kit 20 for the particular patients tray being prepared.

Again referring to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that these inner cartons15 could be used alone for dispensing packaged items 20, FIGURE 4, when,for some reason the outer shipping carton 10 was, for instance, toolarge to have a series of them for different packaged items all in thehospital kitchen above the tray filling counter, or had been soiled intransportation or storage. Under these conditions the individual innercartons 15 could be placed, if desired, in a mixed series on a counteror shelf at the tray preparation area and held there in any conventionalmanner for stable dispensing of packaged items 20 as is the case whendispensing from shipping carton 10 as herein described and shown inFIGURE 2.

Thus it is obvious that this special shipping carton 10, with innercartons 15 filled with packaged items 20, all code marked or morespecifically color coded, facilitates the transportation, storage, andsanitary, accurate dispensing of tray kits, even directly from innercartons 15, in a fraction of the time formerly required with olderpractices now almost universally used in hospitals.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of those explained, change being made as regards the methods anddetails disclosed, provided the methods and combination of featuresstated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such statedmethods and combination of features be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A combination shipping and dispensing carton assembly, whichcomprises a carton having front, back, and side panels with top andbottom carton closing flaps extending from the ends of same, one of saidpanels having a tear-out strip means extending across same substantiallyparallel to said bottom and spaced a short distance above same, the sideedges of said panel carrying said tear-out strip means and extendingfrom said tear-out strip to the bottom of said carton being of weakenedconstruction, whereby removing said tear-out strip means and breakingsaid weakened portions will produce a bottom hinged reclosable flap foringress and egress to said carton at the bottom of said panel, and atleast one inner carton fitting in said shipping carton and extendingsubstantially from top to bottom of same, said inner carton having inone edge panel, adjacent the bottom thereof, a full width dispensingopening slightly shallower than the height of said opening in saidshipping carton adjacent the bottom of same, whereby the dispensingopening in said inner carton will be fully exposed when said reclosablefiap of said shipping carton is in open position.

2. A combination shipping and dispensing carton assembly as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said tear-out strip means is in the form of twotear-out strips substantially in line with each other and with theadjacent ends of said two tear-out strips being in the form of pullabletabs.

3. A combination shipping and dispensing carton assembly as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said shipping and dispensing carton is code marked asto its contents, and said inner carton is likewise code marked directlyabove its dispensing opening and below the top of the ingress and egressopening in said shipping and dispensing carton, whereby the two codemarkings can be easily compared to determine whether they match.

4. A combination shipping and dispensing carton assembly as set forth inclaim 3, wherein said inner carton is packed with packaged itemsdispensable through the dispensing opening in said inner carton, withsaid packaged items likewise being code marked, whereby the three codemarkings can be easily compared to determine whether said cartons havebeen packed with the proper packaged items.

5. A combination shipping and dispensing carton assembly as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said shipping carton is of corrugated board in the formof front and back face panels with a corrugated spacer between andjoining them, and said tear-out strip means in same is in the form oftwo tear-out strips substantially in line with each other with theadjacent ends of same being in the form of fully free ended pullablet-abs while the portion of said tear-out strips which extend from saidtabs to the side edges of said panel are severed along the back of sameand solely held in place by the front face portion of said corrugatedboard panel, whereby said tear-out strips are stable for the shipping ofsaid carton and yet are easily severable when said carton is to beopened ready for dispensing use.

6. A combination shipping and dispensing carton as- 6 sembly as setforth in claim 1, wherein said inner carton has an open top and a closedbottom, and packaged items therein for dispensing through said fullwidth dispensing opening in said edge panel thereof.

7. A dispensing system, comprising a shipping carton with side panels,closeable end flaps, and a dispensing means in one of said side panelsadjacent the bottom thereof, at least one inner carton within saidshipping carton and having side panels and a bottom with one of saidside panels having a full width dispensing opening adjacent and facingthe dispensing means of said shipping carton but shallower than same,packaged dispensable items in said inner carton in position fordispensing through said alined dispensing openings of said inner cartonand said shipping carton, and color indicia on each of said packageddispensable items as well as exposed on said shipping carton and exposedon said inner carton to show what kind of dispensable items have beenpacked and whether the dispensing system has been properly assembled.

8. A combination shipping and dispensing system, which comprises ashipping carton having side panels with closable and scalable top andbottom flaps extending from the ends of same, a multiplicity of innercartons within said shipping carton, packaged items in each of saidinner cartons, said shipping carton having an opening means parallel toand spaced a short distance above the bottom of said carton, areclosable flap member between said opening means and said bottom, saidreclosable flap carrying panel member having initial releasing means atthe ends of said reclosable flap member, said inner cartons having fourside panels and a bottom panel with one of said inner carton panels atits bottom adjacent and facing said reclosable flap member of saidshipping carton having a dispensing opening of lesser height than saiddispensing opening in said shipping carton through which said packageditems may be dispensed, and said packaged items, said shipping carton,and said inner carton portion above its dispensing opening and in sightthrough the dispensing opening of said shipping carton all carrying likeindicia showing the kind of goods packed in said shipping and dispensingassembly, and whether same has been properly assembled.

9. The combination with a fully closable shipping carton having top andbottom flaps of at least one inner carton transportable within same andwhich inner carton has dispensable items packed in containers therein,said inner carton comprising four elongated side panels and a closedbottom for supporting the dispensible item containers with one of saidelongated side panels having, in the lower portion of same, crosswisethereof, and adjacent said closed bottom, a cut out portion forming adispensing opening in said side panel through which said containers ofdispensible items may be dispensed, and indicia in the form of readilyvisible code markings at least on said individual containers of thedispensible items and on the outer face of said individual inner cartonadjacent said dispensing opening thereof to show at a glance, at leastwhen said inner carton is outside of said shipping carton, the kind ofpackaged dispensible items packed in said inner carton, and whether theproper packaged items have been packed therein.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 9, wherein said indicia onsaid individual containers of dispensable items as well as on said innercarton is in the form of color coding.

11. The combination with a shipping carton of at least one inner cartontransportable within same and which inner-carton has dispensible itemspacked therein, said inner carton comprising four side panels and aclosed bottom with one of said side panels having, crosswise thereof andadjacent said closed bottom, a dispensing opening through which saidpackaged items may be dispensed, indicia in the form of readily visiblecode marking at least on said individual packaged items and on saidindividual inner carton adjacent said dispensing opening thereof to showat a glance, at least when said inner carton is outside of said shippingcarton, the kind of packaged items packed in same inner carton, andwhether the proper packaged items have been packed therein, wherein saidindicia is in the form of color coding, and wherein said color coding ofsaid inner carton is in the form of a readily visible color spot on thesame panel as said dispensing opening and adjacent same, and whereinsaid packaged items are in the form of substantially fiat elongatedpackets, and further wherein said packets are visually color coded in asubstantially matching coding color to that of said inner carton.

References Cited by the'Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Mason.

Matheson 206--44.12 Bogren 2295l Wilson 229-51 La Padura 206-56 Hardy229-17 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner.

1. A COMBINATION SHIPPING AND DISPENSING CARTON ASSEMBLY, WHICHCOMPRISES A CARTON HAVING FRONT, BACK, AND SIDE PANELS WITH TOP ANDBOTTOM CARTON CLOSING FLAPS EXTENDING FROM THE ENDS OF SAME, ONE OF SAIDPANELS HAVING A TEAR-OUT STRIP MEANS EXTENDING ACROSS SAME SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLEL TO SAID BOTTOM AND SPACED A SHORT DISTANCE ABOVE SAME, THE SIDEEDGES OF SAID PANEL CARRYING SAID TEAR-OUT STRIP MEANS AND EXTENDINGFROM SAID TEAR-OUT STRIP TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID CARTON BEING OF WEAKENEDCONSTRUCTION, WHEREBY REMOVING SAID TEAR-OUT STRIP MEANS AND BREAKINGSAID WEAKENED PORTIONS WILL PRODUCE A BOTTOM HINGED RECLOSABLE FLAP FORINGRESS AND EGRESS TO SAID CARTON AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID PANEL, AND ATLEAST ONE INNER CARTON FITTING IN SAID SHIPPING CARTON AND EXTENDINGSUBSTANTIALLY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM OF SAME, SAID INNER CARTON HAVING INONE EDGE PANEL, ADJACENT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, A FULL WIDTH DISPENSINGOPENING SLIGHTLY SHALLOWER THAN THE HEIGHT OF SAID OPENING IN SAIDSHIPPING CARTON ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF SAME, WHEREBY THE DISPENSINGOPENING IN SAID INNER CARTON WILL BE FULLY EXPOSED WHEN SAID RECLOSABLEFLAP OF SAID SHIPPING CARTON IS IN OPEN POSITION.